Craft & Courage

 

It's hard to believe it was ten years ago that I started this blog. As a photographer, I'd never had an exhibition or publicly displayed my work in any way. Blogs were just getting popular, and it seemed like a great way to get a body of work out there in the public domain. But what subject matter to choose? The possibilities were endless, but I felt it made sense to stick with something local, that would be easy to revisit at any moment. I also thought it needed to have boundaries, with a beginning and an end. The Triangle had interested me since I moved to the area in 2006. It's largely independent shops and cafés giving the area its unique identity. Focusing on that theme, I was able to combine my work as an interiors photographer with an exploration of the people and places of Crystal Palace. While much of my day to day work is about pristine designed interiors, this blog was also to be about the people behind the businesses, and what makes a local community. And to be fair, those boundaries have become a little blurred, with many posts taking me slightly off triangle! It's also proved to be a never ending source of material, as shops and cafés come and go.

My very first post back in March 2011, was about the wonderful newly opened, and now much missed cheese, wine and beer shop, Good Taste, set up by Manish Utton-Mishra at 28 Westow Hill. So I thought it would be fitting to return to the same site to feature the current occupants. Opening in June 2018, Craft & Courage had previously been located across the road, starting life as a pop up called Craft Palace. Owners, Mark and Ela Westcott already had one similar outlet in Tooting, but one visit to Crystal Palace, was enough, not only to fall in love with the place, but also to persuade them that this was the perfect area for another site. The reason for the subsequent move across the street, was the possibility of an on-license which was not available at the other shop unit. Once lockdown ends, the bar side of the business will reopen  as will the alpine style chalet in the garden. Adding 'courage' to the name was to reflect that gin, a drink of Dutch origin (so, Dutch courage) was now a large part of the business. They even distil their own range of the spirit, currently made in Wandsworth, but soon to be made right here at no.28. Much of the beer is also local, and includes favourites from breweries including, Gipsy Hill, Canopy, of Herne Hill, Pressure Drop, from Tottenham, and By the Horns based in Tooting. Alongside the local brews are plenty of classics from Bavaria, Belgium and elsewhere. Like most businesses, C&C has had to adapt to the peculiar circumstances of the pandemic, and now offers draught beer in a refillable container known as a Growler. Mark is particularly grateful for the continued support of locals during the last year, which has really been helped by the successful shop local campaign, but also helped by the fact that people are working from home. A boon for all local businesses.

Refillable 'Growlers'

The alpine lodge and beer garden hopefully opening on April 12th!

Ela and Mark Westcott